Lee Asher has dedicated his life to rescuing shelter animals around the country.
On his journey, he converted a Skoolie bus and used it to travel from state to state with his 11 rescue dogs working with animal shelters and humane societies to promote animal rescue.
He is also building an animal sanctuary in Estacada, Oregon. Sometimes shelter dogs are a little wary of being rescued.
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“She was cowering under the table, shaking. Just so scared,” he said of a shelter dog he wanted to bring to The Asher House sanctuary. “Inch by inch, she would let me get a little bit closer and closer.”
This is because being at a shelter can be a very scary place for rescue dogs.
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“The smells are unfamiliar and you don’t know the rules of this new place. The people mean well but they become upset when you need to pee or try to join them for dinner. How would you learn to trust these humans? How would you learn to relax and think of this home as your own? How would you learn to love again? It’s no wonder that bonding with a rescue dog can be a slow process,” The Dog People website explains.
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When Lee found his latest rescue to be extremely fearful, he tried to coax her with pets.
Apparently, he had better luck than the shelter staff because the dog wouldn’t let them touch her for a week.
She, however, let Lee touch her within just a few minutes.
But getting the dog to trust Lee was still a slow process. She would run up to smell him, then run back under the table.
Eventually, he was able to put a leash on her but she would get so scared.
So, he let her take her time and kept putting the leash on and then taking it off.
“Then eventually I put it on and she kind of gave me this look like, ‘OK, where are we going.’ And that’s when I knew it was time. I could tell she had a lot of energy and anxiety bubbling up. I thought she was going to be a nervous wreck,” Lee told The Dodo.
But the doggo was ready and jumped right into his car.
She was a little timid at first but once she was in the car she got cozy in Lee’s lap.
“I was so excited. I kept telling her the dogs cant wait to meet you and I knew the pack would help her come out of her shell,” Lee said.
Being in a new location at the sanctuary also made the dog a little nervous. She would go back and forth between trusting Lee and not.
His biggest fear was that she would run away. He decided that it was best to introduce her to the smaller dogs first.
Then he worked his way up to the bigger dogs all while being close to her so that she knew she was safe and protected.
This pup immediately fit right into her new pack.
And from then on she was a changed dog. Instead of anxious, she was a very happy doggo.
“I could see in her face like, ‘Oh my goodness! This is where I am right now? She couldn’t believe her life. She was just so happy. By her bringing me that stick, she just wanted me to be proud of her,” said Lee.
Now this happy doggo spends her days playing with her friends, exploring the local woods and rivers, playing with sticks, and getting a lot of love.
Watch this dog’s full transformation in the video below.
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